Dear Prayer Partners,
This past year has given me more opportunities to exercise my faith in new ways and grow in my dependence on the Lord as I continue through the deputation process. Lately I have been reminded and encouraged from several passages in Scripture what this attitude of dependence looks like, as well as God’s unchanging faithfulness. Psalm 145:15-16 is one such passage that describes how God opens his hand to those who look to him and pours out blessing, and I have certainly witnessed this in my life recently.
During the month of July, I presented at two churches in Montana. The first stop was at Swan Valley Baptist Church where I enjoyed the hospitality of the Woods and was surrounded by a very peaceful landscape. Through a mutual friend (thank you, Mrs. Shea), I met a family who owns a delightful pizza restaurant in the area and visited their church as well. The following Sunday, I presented at Triumph Baptist Church in Great Falls. Pastor Hernandez also leads a church plant nearby in the town of Power, so I was able to share about my ministry at both locations. With the busy summer season of church camps and other outreach ministries, I am so thankful each church was willing to make time for me to visit.
For one week in July, I observed an online linguistics workshop working with a Eurasian language group. This translation team had made further progress working through the New Testament and was ready for a linguistics workshop to help sort through a few spelling and grammar questions. Part of the complexity of this particular language is that many words can take numerous suffixes and prefixes that often overlap in meaning. At times, even the native speakers struggle to describe exactly how each morpheme functions. Our computer software also sometimes struggles to handle the more unusual elements of the language. Overall, the workshop went well, the internet connection for the team members had minimal disruptions, and we only found a few things to adjust in the text. I was especially thankful that my internet connection was mostly stable, since I was away from home during two days of the workshop.
In August, I traveled to Michigan for the annual consultant seminar at the BI office followed by a short retreat. I was glad to get to know the team there better, and I enjoyed spending time with several BI missionaries I’d not yet met in person. The seminar sessions covered various topics related to Bible translation, along with a few sessions more focused on communication and team-building. I was encouraged by the messages from the speaker, along with hearing updates from several overseas missionary colleagues. We also had a surprise picnic dinner celebrating Larry and Sally Fogle’s retirement and 50 years of service as BMM missionaries. The Fogles served with BI and in a variety of other ministries over the years, but Larry was one of my first in-person connections with BI because he visited my church several years ago when I was first considering Bible translation work.
During this trip to Michigan, I was also invited to present my ministry a few hours’ drive away at Cottam Baptist Church in Ontario, Canada. I praise the Lord for this unexpected opportunity, and enjoyed spending time with the pastor, his wife, and the family that hosted me there. The second church visit I made this month was much closer to home at First Baptist Church of Quincy, WA. It was a blessing getting to know the Fodge family and receiving a warm welcome from the church. They are the sending church of a missionary family I met during my internship two years ago observing a workshop on the Dendi Bible translation in Benin. Since then, the Dendi Bible has been officially completed and approved; all that remains is formatting and printing.
It’s hard to believe that my support level is already at 48% after only about a year of deputation! This is an immense praise, and I am deeply thankful for each one of you who has a part of that. Once I reach 50%, I will be able to participate in workshops overseas and begin making more progress in my training. In the meantime, I have two upcoming churches to visit, but still many openings in my schedule this fall and going into next year. Please continue to pray that I will be able to connect with the right churches and individuals in God’s timing. I have been so encouraged at all that God has done this year to get me nearly partway through the deputation process, but there is still more to do before I am fully supported.
Praise!
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Pray for:
Upcoming Meetings 9/27 Liberty Baptist Church, Lynden, WA 10/18 Grace Baptist Church, Redding, CA
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